Saturday, June 30, 2012

For My Saturday Style, I wanted to share a bit of a wander I had in our local art museum last week.

I took pictures of my favorite exhibits, so enjoy.

The museum was built as a project by Springville High Students in the 1920's. It has housed many, many famous traveling works of art.

This show was their Spring Salon, and all exhibits were done by local artists. I spoke with the docent, who said she was one of the students who helped build up the permenant exhibits as a student there in the late 40's.

I told her how amazed I was by the stunning quality of this juried show. She said she remembers how they brought in borrowed works for years, as this quality was not available locally.

I was pleased to find this bronze sculpture by my cousin Debbie's husband, James Avati. She met him in art school, not surprisingly, and they are both working artists today. His sculpture of a airman during WWII won an award in the show.

These two metal scuptures have sort of Steampunk themes, don't you think? There were also paintings that looked a little Steampunk.

I really liked the collage style of this pair of paintings. There is a closeup of what appears to be the focal point of each to the right.

Below are the two paintings as they hung side by side.

This wonderful dimensional work was a bit of everything. A bit of sculpture, a bit of collage, a bit religious Renaissance, a bit altered art and even a little bit Steampunk. I was awed, and have taken several pictures of details so you too can enjoy it. I stood in front of it for a good 15 minutes and I am trying to find the time to go back and commune a bit more.

The work was done by Heather Campbell of Logan. She was born in 1952. Unfortunately the piece was not for sale, but I can't imagine selling something so full of one's efforts and heart. A bit like selling a child perhaps. Thanks for coming along for the art museum tour. If you are local, be sure to stop by now, as this show ends tomorrow.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Today, I wanted to share a little reinventing we have been up to. I bought this organ, minus its guts, at an estate sale about 10 years ago. I had always wanted an antique 'organ desk', so its missing parts did not bother me. At the time, my dh cut a top for the desk, attatched it, and then I painted it.

This is what it looked liked when I blogged about it and other goodies last year. As you can see there is not a lot of storage, so a row of photo boxes served as drawers with desk supplies.

I found these drawers at Farm Chicks last summer. The dealer said they were from a cabinet that had 'fallen apart' and were just $5 each. My friend Jenn and I split what she had left... she said they had been her hottest seller, not surprisingly. I used them in my craft dungeon, just sitting stacked on a shelf, not really maximizing their charm. After moving them upstairs to the 'new' craft space, it just came to me that they were just the size of my photo boxes and therefore ....

they would fit the same space. My dh saved the day once more, by cutting and installing the board that would sit on top of the drawers. I painted the new shelf and drawers.

Now I can not imagine the desk without the drawers, and it will be so much more handy to pull a drawer, rather than taking off a lid, and replacing it later. It also gives me a narrow shelf perfect for magazines and reams of paper.

Oh, and one other brainchild that was born this week. I have had this old painted pepsi crate at the antique mall for years. Everyone wants them with their original printing on the sides, so there it sat. I was working with Cathie, and wondering about its usefulness for storage, of course thinking of my evolving craft room. Then it hit me that babyfood jars might fit, and I could sort my buttons into specific colors. Well Cathie ran to her booth at the antique mall, where she had done some cute jars of vintage buttons in babyfood jars. The jars did not fit standing up, but when on their sides they fit fine. Even better, now all you see is the contents of the jar. I have a bit more jar collecting and button sorting in my future, can you tell?

Thanks for coming along to share my search for organization in my "Room of Requirement"!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

So, for Thrifty Thursday, I thought I would share a quote I grew up with. 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.' I am pretty sure it came out of the 30's, when the depression made people into the original recyclers.

I bought four gallon reproduction coffee jars with lids to use for canisters several years ago. I don't much like stuff on my counters so eventually three of them were relegated to holding craft supplies.

The only one remaining was the one I used for my whole wheat flour. Since we grind it ourselves, there is no packaging to tuck it away into the cupboard with. However, with my recent craft room move and set up, I was wishing I had more of the gallon coffee jars and thought ... If I can just find something to replace it, I can fill it with craft goodness too. When I was bringing up another craft load, I found this oversized canister. It is from the 50's and cute, but didn't fit in the craft room. (The antique doorknobs it once held actually found a home in the former flour jar.) Since it didn't match ....

A little spray paint, a graphic from Graphics Fairy, some Modpodge (3 coats to be exact) and a clear sealer and it now holds more flour than the gallon jar did by half. The only problem is, that now I want to redo the pink breadbox ... and while I am at it, the black and white checkered tile counters I want would look so much better with the canister and redone breadbox, don't you think?

Thanks for checking out my latest thrifty craft. Did you catch my pun? My Prince did, which was a big surprise. Thanks all!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Well, for our Wednesday's Wanderings, we will not go far afield. In fact this first picture is of my front porch and shows my friend Margaret (on the left). I first met her when she and her husband Jeff boarded our horses when we bought our house here in Payson back in 1997.

Margaret is on the board of the local quilt guild and called to ask if they could tour my house on their annual quilt walk. Of course I was delighted. Above you can see half of the group. My husband told the other half stories about the house out front. Since my house is stone and has great carvings, including gargoils, there is plenty to talk about outside as well.

I am sharing my parlor and dining room with you today. One of my favorite stories about the house is that someone from Disney came by one day, while the previous owner was in residence, and asked to see the house. As she was showing him around he offered her $30,000 for the fireplace mantel and tile surround.

Whoa, I wish he would come back, I would definitely sell it, as an antique fireplace of this quality can be had for as little as $5,000. But alas, I have to admit, I am glad she didn't sell it, it is one of my favorite features of the house.

Though, actually, this stick and ball spandral is my favorite detail in the house. It was seeing this spandral when I came to the house for an estate sale 15 years ago, that made me first consider making the house my own.

When we bought the house, the older couple who had owned it for 30 some years, were just living in three rooms, and had the rest of the house sealed off to save on power bills. The dining room was their sitting room and they had a wood burning stove in the middle of the room. It was one of the first things to go when we took the house in hand.

This sweet portrait of a young woman from the fifties, gets a lot of attention. I love the painting, mostly because its a beauty, but partly because I bought it out of the back room of an antique store for $20. It had been found on its side in an attic. The roof had leaked and the paint had run causing her red lips to smear across the right side of the painting. A little linseed oil to remove the streaks and voila'!!

Thanks for coming along on the first of four wanderings around Broadstone Manor. (Yep, I have named my houses ever since I first saw and read Ann of Green Gables.)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Today was crazy, I had to finish the cleanup from last night's event, then got things together for another dinner party tonight. With three events in three days, I am wiped out. So, I thought I would share a long time collection of mine.

I love transferware. I have collected blue, green, brown and red. Red is probably my favorite.

The two plate to the left are the best of my collection. The top one was a gift from my friend Wendy and the bottom one was a gift from my sister Julie. They both date to the mid 1800's. Note the high ridge around the center of the plate on both . I also think the patterns are charming, and much more intricate than later transferware.

Transferware is produced by carefully arranging a pattern printed on tissue paper onto an unfired plate. During firing, the paper burns away, leaving the pattern on the plate. The first transferware patterns were brought to Europe from China. The first pattern and the one that is most common, is Blue Willow, which has a strong Asian element, and you have probably seen it before. Some people even call all blue transferware 'blue willow', though it actually refers to a single pattern. Blue is the most common color of transferware. One thing you may not know is that there is actually red willow as well, though, of course, it is much later. I read the book, The Blue Willow Plate as a child, and loved it.

I have my transferware displayed in this great Eastern European cupboard. It is one of those that came in a container shipment and sold at a local antique store. I love the lines, though it is likely from the 1930's or later, so not really an antique. Still, very charming and a favorite piece of mine.